The Record: Hold the carbs

IF YOU want to lose weight, you should stop eating fatty foods, right? Maybe not.

A study published this week says people may lose more weight by giving up carbohydrates, not foods high in fat content.

In a nation where about a third of the population is considered obese and where various diet regimens abound, losing weight is a big deal. Studies on good eating habits are not new. But this recent one by a professor at Tulane University makes legitimate points about how best to shed some extra pounds.

Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the yearlong study involved 148 overweight individuals between ages 22 and 75, none of whom had any cardiovascular problems or other weight-related diseases such as diabetes. Half of the group followed a low-fat diet, and the other half were put on a diet low in carbohydrates.

The result was that those on the low-carb diet lost on average nearly 8 more pounds than the group on the low-fat diet.

One expert at the Institute of Human Nutrition for Columbia University suggested that America has made a "big mistake" in treating fat as villainous. She noted that some foods may be low in fat but also low in nutrients and high in sugar. One answer is not simply to avoid such fatty foods as chocolate cake and red meat, but to limit the intake of all sugary and processed foods in favor of a plant-based diet.

Benita Burke, a cardiologist and medical director of Valley Medical Group's Heart Care for Women, reinforced that point, telling The Record, "It all comes back to these processed foods and these sugars. … Everything we eat that's 'white' should be out."

That message is not new. Nutritionists long have talked about the virtues of making ample portions of vegetables and fruit a part of our daily diet.

Unfortunately, that lesson is not getting through to everyone. It's not just poor eating habits, but a lack of exercise as well. Obesity among children ages 6 to 11 has risen from 7 percent in 1980 to almost 18 percent in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During that same period, obesity among adolescents (those ages 12 to 19) rose from 5 percent to almost 21 percent.

That's an ominous trend. If young people are already overweight, there's a greater chance they will remain obese into adulthood. One positive development is the new set of federal guidelines for healthy school lunches championed by first lady Michelle Obama.

But that's not the total answer; children are in school for only a part of the day. What is needed is a full commitment by our society to healthy eating and regular exercise.